Volume 1 of The SoDA Report 2014 Now Available

by Natalie Smith, SoDA / April 16, 2014

In this volume, we explore the concept of value. We place the human at the heart of this issue and explore themes around value systems, value creation and value delivery from a wide variety of perspectives. How are agencies, production companies, brands and technologies creating and delivering value, or even giving rise to entirely new value systems?

We dive into all of these questions throughout each expertly-curated editorial section within the report. The sections include Industry Insider, Modern Marketer, Tech Talk, People Power and Advocacy. You’ll also find an exemplary collection of projects from SoDA members that features work with world-renowned brands such as American Express, Adobe, EA Sports, Walmart, Nike, Google, IBM, Samsung, BMW, MINI, and many more.

We also use the concept of value as a lens when analyzing the data for this year’s Digital Marketing Outlook (DMO) research study which had a tremendous response this year. The share of client-side survey respondents grew considerably this past year and now – for the first time – is essentially on par with the percentage of agency / production company respondents. The findings also reveal key shifts in marketer/agency relationships and a discrepancy between what advertisers and agencies believe are most valuable to clients. There are startling perception differences over clients’ attempts to transform their business, and disconnects over why clients walk away from agencies.

The research also highlights steep learning curves inside agencies when it comes to acting on data insights, as well as using digital information to propel deeper personalization. As clients increase investment, agencies need to stay ahead in data, mobile and product innovation.

Chris Buettner, SoDA Executive Director and Managing Editor of The SoDA Report, said: “Clients are doing more digital in-house than ever. But increasing levels of sophistication and elaborate in-house digital teams do not have to translate into diminished revenue for digital agencies. The opportunity is in data, mobile and product innovation – areas of high demand.”

Conducted in partnership with Econsultancy, the Digital Marketing Outlook is based on a global sample, evenly split between advertisers and agencies, which represent a total annual marketing spend of $25.4 billion. In total there were 736 respondents, the large majority being senior company decision-makers.

To become a subscriber of The SoDA Report please email SoDA and you will have priority access to the release of upcoming editions, as well as complimentary access to a new White Paper series what will be released under The SoDA Report brand. The SoDA Report is one of the most widely read publications in the digital marketing world, with over 250,000 downloads in 2013.